3-4 Page Paper

Leadership and Change

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. — Warren Bennis, Ph.D. On Becoming a Leader

Today's business world is highly competitive, thus change must be a naturally occurring activity in a growing organization.

The way to survive is to reshape to the needs of a rapidly changing world. Resistance to change is a dead-end street . . . for both you and the organization. Customers are not only demanding excellent service, they are also demanding more. If you do not supply it, your competitors will.

Organizations are reshaping themselves to become more agile and flat to meet the needs of their customers. These organization's top leaders know they cannot throw money at every problem and that they need highly committed and flexible workers.

As a leader, you need to emphasize action to make the change as quickly and smoothly as possible. “Resistance is futile,” as the Borg from Star Trek like to put it.

To prevent yourself or your organization from becoming “stranded on the mudflats of an obsolete ideology” (David Lodge), you must become a champion of change.

Organizations normally go through four main changes throughout their growth (Klepper, 1997):

1. Formative Period — This is when a new organization is just getting started. Although there is a founding vision (the purpose of the organization), there are no formal definitions. This is just as well because there should be a lot of experimentation and innovation taking place. These changes of creativity and discovery are needed to overcome obstacles and accomplish breakthroughs.

2. Rapid Growth Period — Direction and coordination are added to the organization to sustain growth and solidify gains. Change is focused on defining the purpose of the organization and on the mainstream business.

3. Mature Period — The strong growth curve levels off to the overall pace of the economy. Changes are needed to maintain established markets and assure maximum gains are achieved.

4. Declining Period — This is the rough ride. For some organizations, it means down-sizing and reorganization. To survive, changes must include tough objectives and compassionate implementation. The goal is to get out of the old and into something new. Success in this period means that the four periods start over again. Failure means the end of the organization is near.

For some organizations the four periods of growth come and go very rapidly, for others, it may take decades. Failure to follow-through with the needed changes in any of the four growth periods means the death of the organization.

The Japanese have a term called “kaizen,” which means continual improvement. It is a never-ending quest to do better. And you do better by changing. Standing still allows your competitors to get ahead of you.